concrete shower walls?

concrete shower walls?

Would like to create a concrete look on the walls of our walk in shower. (a total bathroom remodel) We saw it once where they just smeared some kind of concrete right over the hardy backer (but it looked kind-of crappy). We would like to end up with a more polished concrete look - maybe with faux seams or some kind of supper simple design.

Our goal is to achieve a clean modern looking shower but at a less expensive alternative than nice tile. Probably will use a nice tile for the entire bath room floor including the floor level walk in shower.

Would love suggestion on material, application methods or thought on something better.

Re: concrete shower walls?

Most of the "good" concrete work I have see (good being concrete that is finish quality as opposed to driveway concrete) costs as much if not more than an Ann Sacks tile. Although I have never see it used on a shower wall, the finish grade concrete for countertops or walkways, patios, etc. are $10.00 per foot +.

Considering Ann Sacks or Apavisa make a great porcelian tile for $6.00 to $8.00 a foot plus you have a great selection of field sizes and color to choose from, I would go that route.

Re: concrete shower walls?

I second this. Of the two contractors that I linked to above, the top one comes in at $30 per sq foot, and the other at $12 (although this price only includes the thin layer of concrete he puts over prepped gypcrete)

There's a fabulous concrete tile maker in Vancouver. Their tiles run $50 per sq foot and up.

Sonoma Cast Stone's prices are likely similar www.sonomastone.com but gorgeous stuff in cement

We have an Ann Sachs studio in SF. Their tiles out this way are expensive as well.

Re: concrete shower walls?

You could consider cement board. I used Minerit Lightweight on my showers, and I like the way it came out. It is a cement gray with a very pretty flecking of gold. I left about an 1/8" of an inch between the panels, and I "grouted" the gaps with black caulk. Prior to installing the panels, I sealed them with masonry sealer, and they were installed over hardibacker, over 6 mil poly. Minerit Lightweight goes for about $65 per 4' x 8' panel. This is a VERY cost effective solution for a non-tile installation. The great thing is, besides the way it looks, is after a shower you just squeegee the whole shower, glass, walls, everything - and you are done. NO grout lines to clean or get moldy, very few joints to worry about water penetration. Installation was tricky, but not impossible, and any installer of paneled shower type enclosures (Swanstone, et al) will know how to do it. If you are handy, you could do it yourself. This pic shows the cement board in our (mostly) finished guest bath.

Re: concrete shower walls?

Hi Chris -
You can do a search for Minerit Lightweight on google. You can also do a search for cement board here on LiveModern. Lots of good conversations about it. Two places to buy it are CBF in Kentucky ( I think) or Foundry Services in Santa Fe Springs (L.A.). As I said, it's around $65 per 4x8 sheet. Since I did all the work myself, it's hard to tell you what the cost would be retail. And I'm not sure if you are asking about the total cost from studs out, or just the finish surface. But as far as man-hours are concerned, I have found that when you use unusual materials in place of the more usual, the cost difference for using a "different" finish doesn't always result in a corresponding savings in the end because of the unfamiliarity to the contractor of working with the "new" material. That's why I mention finding a contractor familiar with installing panel-type shower enclosures, which have a lot of similarities to how you install this stuff. So if you find a guy like that, the installation costs should be cheaper than any other system because you are covering 32 sq ft for a materials cost of $65; that's less than $2 a square foot. I would estimate that an installation of a standard shower like this would take about a day and a half: finish only, not counting wall prep from the bare studs, and not counting the time and costs of coating the cement board with a masonry sealer to make it waterproof. (If you are interested in saving money, I would recommend sealing the cement board yourself.) Hope this helps! -R.

Re: concrete shower walls?

You could consider cement board. I used Minerit Lightweight on my showers, and I like the way it came out. It is a cement gray with a very pretty flecking of gold. I left about an 1/8" of an inch between the panels, and I "grouted" the gaps with black caulk. Prior to installing the panels, I sealed them with masonry sealer, and they were installed over hardibacker, over 6 mil poly. Minerit Lightweight goes for about $65 per 4' x 8' panel. This is a VERY cost effective solution for a non-tile installation. The great thing is, besides the way it looks, is after a shower you just squeegee the whole shower, glass, walls, everything - and you are done. NO grout lines to clean or get moldy, very few joints to worry about water penetration. Installation was tricky, but not impossible, and any installer of paneled shower type enclosures (Swanstone, et al) will know how to do it. If you are handy, you could do it yourself. This pic shows the cement board in our (mostly) finished guest bath.

Did you screw thw panels in place?

Re: concrete shower walls?

Nope, I put them up with construction adhesive, bottom to top, cross-bracing opposing panels with 1x6's to create a good bond with the adhesive. As I mentioned above, installers with experience installing panel-type shower enclosures would know how to do this. If you want detailed instructions, you can go to Swanstone's website and download their pdf on installing their panel shower system. I think that is how I got my info...or perhaps on the John Bridge tile website, wich is also a great resource for these questions. (I considered screws, but that means more penetrations for the water to find and I was trying to minimize that.)
-R.

Re: concrete shower walls?

I emailed him about using concrete for a shower walls and here is his reply.

Hi Chris,Toweling one half inch (+-) of mix over concrete board is a good idea. Make sure to tape the seams of the backer board so the seam doesn’t transfer to the surface. Wet the backer board first so it doesn’t pull all the moisture out of the crete.

The cost of a 70lb bag is about $40. It holds about 1/2 a cubic foot of material and at a half inch thick you should get about 13.5 sf per bag. That’s about $3 psf of the BRS white concrete mix.

ThanksBuddy

Re: concrete shower walls?

You could consider cement board. I used Minerit Lightweight on my showers, and I like the way it came out. It is a cement gray with a very pretty flecking of gold. I left about an 1/8" of an inch between the panels, and I "grouted" the gaps with black caulk. Prior to installing the panels, I sealed them with masonry sealer, and they were installed over hardibacker, over 6 mil poly. Minerit Lightweight goes for about $65 per 4' x 8' panel. This is a VERY cost effective solution for a non-tile installation. The great thing is, besides the way it looks, is after a shower you just squeegee the whole shower, glass, walls, everything - and you are done. NO grout lines to clean or get moldy, very few joints to worry about water penetration. Installation was tricky, but not impossible, and any installer of paneled shower type enclosures (Swanstone, et al) will know how to do it. If you are handy, you could do it yourself. This pic shows the cement board in our (mostly) finished guest bath.

Re: concrete shower walls?

Re: concrete shower walls?

Would like to create a concrete look on the walls of our walk in shower. (a total bathroom remodel) We saw it once where they just smeared some kind of concrete right over the hardy backer (but it looked kind-of crappy). We would like to end up with a more polished concrete look - maybe with faux seams or some kind of supper simple design.

Our goal is to achieve a clean modern looking shower but at a less expensive alternative than nice tile. Probably will use a nice tile for the entire bath room floor including the floor level walk in shower.

Would love suggestion on material, application methods or thought on something better.

Re: concrete shower walls?

I retail/use a product called Deco-Poz in existing or new shower stalls. It is very easy to trowell on and polish to 400 or so the next day. Check out some photos in website to see finished product www.ecosimplista.com. Just like any other concrete it can be stained or left natural. Usually I seal it with Dura Zero and then apply a topical wax to enhance shine. Good luck.

*Update June 22, 2010

We have had a tremendous amount of phone calls over the past 2 months from you guys who have been trying our products. Thank you to all of our supporters. We have listed a 10 step "simplified" process of how to achieve a smooth shiny polished concrete shower stall, on both new and/or existing showers. The link below should take you to our tutorial.

The process we described is the basic version. If you are interested and in South Florida we do teach classes on this process which can also be used for concrete floors, walls, counters, etc. Concrete is a beautiful medium and takes years of trial and error to achieve the exact finish you desire..and then sometimes that doesnt even work out. Our best tip is to hire a professional if you want a PERFECT finish, if not, with a little practice you too can create a masterpiece.

Re: concrete shower walls?

If you have a small shower, or you would like to make your walk in shower look more spacious, it might be a good idea to use white tiles that are slightly on the glossy side. They would make the place appear more spacious than it actually is. The only downside for using tiles is that there might be a chance that gout or mold might grow in between the tiles.

Re: concrete shower walls?

Nice Shower enclosure looking so beautiful.If you are living alone and you have money to invest in your bathroom, it’s recommended to buy only a Single bathroom vanity, but things are different when you are living with your wife and you also have kids. When you an extended or a large family and you have enough space in your bathroom, you really need a double bathroom vanity.